enhanced
court fees
Widespread condemnation of
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has
announced that it will be increasing court
fees in relation to claims for the recovery
of money from April 2015. The new
“enhanced fee charging” will introduce a
fee for all claims worth over £10,000 of
5% of the value of the claim, subject to a
maximum fee capped at £10,000.
Justice Minister, Shailesh Vara, said that
the measures were necessary to deliver
an estimated £120 million of income to
modernise the court services over the
next five years. He stated that only so
much could be achieved through cost
efficiency measures alone and that there
was “no alternative but to look to those
who use the courts to contribute more.”
The Civil Justice Council (CJC) – the
body responsible for overseeing and
coordinating the modernisation of the
civil justice system – has expressed its
extreme concern that major fee increases
would act as an effective barrier to
entry to the justice system by pricing
many court users out of the system and
thereby reducing access to justice. In its
response, published earlier this month,
the CJC highlighted that a claim for more
than £200,000 would necessitate a court
issue fee of £10,000, a massive 576%
increase on the current court fee.
The country’s most senior judges share
the CJC’s opposition to the drastic
increase in court fees. A letter responding
to the MoJ consultation was sent last
month from the office of the Lord Chief
Justice Lord Thomas and signed by
Master of the Rolls Lord Dyson, president
of the Queen’s Bench Division Lord
Justice Leveson, president of the Family
Division Sir James Munby, chancellor of
the High Court Sir Terence Etherton and
deputy head of civil justice Lord Justice
Richards.
The judiciary warned against the
disproportionately adverse impact on
small and medium enterprises. This
concern was echoed by the Bar Council
which stated “Cash-flow is the life blood
of small businesses and many end up
having to pursue late payments and other
debts through the court system. Imposing
a 5% fee may well make many small
businesses think twice before making that
claim.”
Claimants’ willingness to pay for legal
representation may be affected and any
cost saving is likely to be countered
by an increase in litigants in person as
claimants try to cut their overall legal bill.
The Government’s cuts to legal aid over
recent years have already resulted in
more people representing themselves in
court, causing delays and inefficiencies
in the litigation system, and the situation
looks set to get worse.
Claims for unspecified sums of money,
including personal injury and clinical
negligence claims, will present diff